The view from my 5th floor room (at $10 a night). Quito is about ten times longer than wide. It was originally settled by pre-Incas and then by the Incas, who burned it down rather than surrender it to the Spanish. Most of what i learned in school about the Incas and the Spanish conquest was wrong. Only now are the many sources being compared and contradictions being examinded. 52% of the population is still 100% indigenous, 8% pure European and the rest meztico (the mix).

Grazing is one of the few commercial acivities in the steep and heavily wooded forests of Mindo. This is sub-tropical because of the altitude.

Berries were right in season. We ate until we were ready to burst!

No bridge to cross the Rio Cinto. We had to remove our boots and wade across with the packs still on our backs. The crossing was much wider and faster than shown here.

I didn't see the animal, but these prints were FRESH! Note that there are no claw prints. (Dogs cannot retract their claws, cats can.) This one was five inches across and all along our trail.

"The map must be wrong!"

"Yes, I'm sure the map is wrong!"

This was the best of the trail. Most of it was muddy with ponds several inches deep. My leather boots became wet, then my socks. I developed five bleeding sores and two other blisters! This was the worst of my entire experience. At last, I hitch-hiked a ride the last four miles before the blisters ruptured. It now has been five days and i still limp!!

One of the mos dangerous things in Latin America is crossing the street. The eleven at the top of this sign tells me that I have exactly 11 seconds to get across the street before the vehicular traffic has permission to run me down!

Latins are fond of statues and public monuments. This one comemorates the first time a Spaniard and native traded an umbrella for sex.

Bridges are narrow. Contrary to their conduct on the highways, folks wait patentiently until they can cross. There are no signals and little room for pedistrians.

Another public display. Castro was one of the faces on the banner.

Another wild bird. How can they fly with such a big beak-all the weight being upfront? I never did see one in flight, just crawling from limb to limb.

The most amazing thing is the man in the background!

Along the headwaters of the Amazon, the jungle in thick right up to the river. There is no place to land without chopping the flora away.

We are having a great time!

La loca vida (via canoe).

Along the way there are public beaches. No one worries about the croc's and the pirahnnas are far away. Even so, I stayed out of the water!

A tour boat for $3 per person.

Masons at dinner in Quito, Ecuador.

There are three Masonic Centers in Quito. Five lodges meet here.

This symbol is on the wall in the reception area.

The West.

The East. All furniture was in perfect condition.

Free masonry is alive and well in Ecuador!

This trout cost me $1.35 to catch at a trout-fish farm. Another fifty cents to be cleaned. We cooked and ate same for dinner that night.

A recruiting poster on the church tower:"Jesus wants you."

The top of the beak and the skull are one piece. the beak´s jaw is cerrated to hold the fruit or nuts they eat. (The bird tastes like chicken.)

This paw print on our trail meaures four inches across.

The indiginous locals, claim that twenty minutes of huging will share the tree's spirit-power. Because they never had watches, I am skeptical.

Growing in the wild is one of those flowers which catch insects for food. The bugs are the tiny ones the size of fruit flies and sand fleas.

This is Quito, the Ecuadorian capital.

The monument which marks the equadortial line which runs through Ecuador.
This is the "Center of the World" monument.
Some folks confuse the Equador with the south pole! Here we are only sidewise, not up-side-down.

Here I did my toilet bowl experiment. The water does spin clockwise when south of the equador! Three meters north of the equador it spins the opposite direction! Imagen, only six feet of difference makes the difference of the rotation! When the bowl is exactly over the equador, the water does not spin- only moves directly toward the drain hole.

This is Cumanda, who is making the trip to Equador worthwilde!

Los HELADOS de la MITAD del MUNDO reads "The ice cream shop of the middle of the world."

Once at the summit, all the energy returns.

This is a tour group of 16 and 17 year olds from Wales.

Note the rim trail on the left side of the photo. We traversed for two hours before getting to the mountain's base.

The "countryside" between peaks.

Center peak is Ruminahi at 4500 meters, one of our destinations.

The photo´s subject is not the interesting thing. It is where I had to get to photograph the tops of the clouds.

Another summit!! Mt Corazon.

My climbing buddy, making the last sign of victory. Only the two of us and the guide made it.

Cotopaxi. I got to 17,500 feet and had to give up the attempt due to personal exhaustion. Actually, I did not "give up." My guide thought I looked so pathetic (he was right), that he told me to return to the base camp. I was glad he did. The return was worse than the ascent. I fell and put my glasses into my eye socket and was blinded on that side (OK now). The other eye got full of sand and my head latern failed! Did I mention that it was 3:30 am and still totally dark? Of the nine who started out, only two made it to the top.

Ilinizac. A five hour climb.

A jungle river, crossed on a small wooden bridge.